Mariah’s Condition Improving, Surgery Planned

Received another update this morning, Mariah is being a model patient, standing and eating on her own – the veterinarian is planning to do surgery on the throat wound but not until next week. They wanted to make sure she was stable first and at this point there is no rush. That’s all for now but I thought you would like to know she’s doing well.

Mike

Well, that’s excellent news! I don’t think we could hope for any better at this point.

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Thanks so much for the update. It is excellent news. When you talk to Mike again could you ask about the dark runny stools he reported earlier. They were concerned about it being internal bleeding. I’m hoping it was stress related and has now cleared up.
Thanks again

So glad to hear that she’s doing better. Thanks so much Carol and Brian for being there which I know you always are. Carol, despite everything, it had to have been incredible for you to be that close to her after all the time you’ve spent watching her in the skies and trying not to get hit by her while “kidnapping” her babies. It had to have been extremely emotional for you.

Thanks Mike and Jess! I’m chuckling, too, at the idea of Mariah as a “model patient.” However, I agree with Jeanne that it is a sign of her amazing adaptability — something that she will need during her treatment, recovery, and life afterward.

Thank you so much for the update, and for the excellent care Mariah is getting! Mariah is a fighter. We are all very concerned about her. Please update us again when there is something to tell. Again, thank you.

When something magical happens between man and animal, the American Natives say, ”We have walked together in the shadow of a rainbow.”
I can imagine that is how all three participants feel ….. Mariah, Brian and Carol. Mariah will be back!

Thank you for all the updates! It is so much appreciated to find out how Mariah is doing. Hope she heals well and will be back in the skies! In my opinion-it wouldnt be bad if they did band Mariah…this way if anything did happen to her…we would know it was Rochesters icon. Any takers on that idea? I wish Mariah well and a fast recovery ! Again thank you to everyone involved.

Birdlover, banding “Mariah” before release (if released) would not bother her at all and could give us information we, as her admirers, want to know (except you, apparently). There would be no other way to have a chance of learning her ultimate fate after a release; she is only one of many unbanded falcons in eastern North America when not under constant observation in Rochester skies. It could also give the vets operating on her now, information on the efficacy of their treatments. It is one thing to do these kinds of repairs and have the bird sit around all day, something more might be required to enable a bird to prevail in the wild…

Regarding the possibility of banding Mariah, we understand that people of goodwill may disagree about it, but it is really not something under our control, so arguing about it doesn’t make much sense. We’ll check with the DEC regarding their plans and report what we learn here.

Had Kaver been banded, we would perhaps have known his fate now. Had Rhea Mae not been banded, we would never have known that she is the daughter of your beloved Mariah and Kaver. Her nesting here has brought joy to so many people, enough so that some of them travelled to Canada to witness the banding of Mariah’s grand ‘eyases’. And those of us up here are thrilled to have the Queen’s daughter in residence, we were giddy when we heard she ‘put up her wings to sheild her babies and stared the banders straight in the eye’ last year…! ‘Oh she’s a chip off the old block” we all laughed!!

I get your point birdlover, they are birds of prey and they should fly freely however by that logic..Mariah should then have been left to her fate on Sunday and not been rescued. I for one am glad that she was saved!

OUR PRAYERS ARE WORKING !
Thank you for the update! Thanks to all of those trained hands and kinds hearts that are and have treated Mariah! She’s proven herself the strong one we all know and love.
LET’S ALL CONCENTRATE ON HER HEALING – THAT’S WHAT’S IMPORTANT NOW!

Thanks a keep the updates coming please. As for banding Mariah, she won’t care either way. I do think though, that if they do band her it should be a solid gold band. After all she is The Queen.

Do we know yet how badly her wing is damaged. Although we all want to see her return to the skies, she must also be strong enough to defend herself. If she is not going to be able to fly well enough to hunt and defend herself then she would be better off at the Zoo.

Bill, IMHO, the best outcome for Mariah would be to release her after the resident pair migrate in the fall. When the female returns in the Spring she would have to face her again and the stronger of the two would prevail. Since she is likely much older I’ll let you do the math on her odds. If she’s determined not to be releasable, she could go to a place like Wild Wings and live out her life as an ambassador for her species.

Birdlover, I don’t think Mariah cares one way or the other if she’s banded.

I haven’t been in for a while, and have so just caught up. I’m kind of glad that I started with reading that Mariah is improving and prognosis is hopeful. thank you so much to everyone caring for Mariah, and to all the watchers keeping an eye on her.

Thanks for the update on her condition. It’s nice to get these brief updates about her now that she is no longer in Rochester. Once again thanks to Jess, Carol, Brian and Mike for all their efforts and care for Mariah.

I am glad to hear Mariah is doing so well. I have been so worried about the most beautiful animal I have ever seen. I have been watching her now for a few years and I was sad to hear that she had been injured. the poor thing first lost her nest, then Kaver and now her territory, that really stinks. Is Zephyr still hanging around Brighton with his lady? Or is the lady that fought Mariah one in the same?

Birdlover, I agree that we have received a great deal from observing Mariah and her two mates and her numerous offspring over the years.

But she has “given” nothing. She is oblivious to our existance, we are no part of her world, even as we change her environment. She does not recognise us and has no special relationship to us. Even the invasion of the scrape at banding time is quickly forgotten (otherwise she would not have returned season after season) and is no more or less traumatic than, for example, a great horned owl attack (except in the latter case the danger of loosing an eyas is much greater). The attachment is all on our side. So a banding, which she would only really take note of for a short while, would not make her less free. She would be as free as her two mates, one banded, one not. She would be as free as her offspring and as free as any other wild flying falcon in the world (predicated on the assumption that she is releasable after rehab).
Banding would make it easier for us to continue our love affair and, as I mentioned before, give the vets and rehabbers more insights into what works for a falcon in the wild after dramatic injury. It would make nothing “harder” for the falcon.

Thanks to everyone for their comments. Thanks to all our falcon watchers throughtout North America. Thanks to Mike for his consideration in updating us. And thanks to Mariah, Kaver and all their offspring. It is a privilege to have this window into the peregrines world and I, as many others do, appreciate it.

just a thought…do you think Mariah has a chance of surviving if you bring her back here? She would make an excellent educator….she seems at ease with people….let a licenced falconer take her….perhaps she could be used at landfills to deter gulls…..just a thought…..what a story she and Kaver told…..I have been tuning in for 3 years now……